Prior to World War I Russia held the world’s third largest gold reserves, behind America and France. In the subsequent Russian Revolution, civil war and the rise of communism, they dropped down the table of nations with large gold reserves and the U.S. became the largest holder of national gold reserves.

In recent years, since 2007, an increasingly powerful and assertive Russia has worked hard to reprise its place in the world’s top gold reserve rankings, quadrupling its purchases in the period to June this year.

A 34 ton purchase of gold (1.1 million ounce) in September has put Russia firmly back in the golden spotlight. The country now holds 1,779 tons of gold, placing it sixth in the world and just behind China.

In the first two quarters of the year the CBR purchased 129 tons, making the late-summer purchase the best since October 2016. Taking into account the September purchase, Russia needs to buy just another 37t in order to purchase 200t by the end of the year – the amount it has done each year, for the last two years running.